Safety Summit to Address Fire Deaths in Mississippi

Latest statistics show a record 34 fire deaths occurred in Mississippi this year, an average of at least 5 a month, according to state officials.

Commissioner of Insurance and State Fire Marshal George Dale will join an estimated 300 local, state, and national fire safety officials this week for a “Fire Safety Education Summit” to address an alarming spike in fire deaths in the state.

“The Fire Marshal’s Office has been closely monitoring this problem, and have indicated to me that fire officials in other states are also seeing an inexplicable rise in fire deaths,” Dale said. “Something must be done to curb the record-setting pace we are on.”

Representatives from the fire service, school and Head Start program officials, state and local elected officials and national organizations whose work is primarily Public Fire Safety Education, will speak at the conferecnce.

“This growing number of fire deaths in the state is completely unacceptable,” Dale said. “By pooling the combined knowledge of these experienced fire safety professionals we hope to find more ways to get information out to the public regarding fire safety.”

Judy Comoletti, assistant vice president of public education for the National Fire Protection Association will be one of the featured speakers at the summit.

“NFPA is pleased to join with Mississippi officials to tackle one of the most critical issues facing their state – residential fire deaths,” Comoletti said. “We hope to work with Mississippi officials and others to develop concrete strategies that will reduce fire-related deaths and injuries here in the future.”

The summit will be held Tuesday at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.

Source: Mississippi Insurance Department